Members of the Lebanese Sunni society, called the ?Islamic Group,? chant slogans as they carry the coffin of Marwan Dimashkieh who was found shot dead on a northern highway on Tuesday after rumors swirled that he was behind a song insulting Hezbollah, during his funeral procession, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014. Hundreds of grim mourners gathered in a Beirut cemetery to bury a Sunni Lebanese man rumored to have been the voice of a popular song against rival Shiite group Hezbollah. The tense scenes the Martyrs Cemetery on Wednesday were the latest manifestation of the war in neighboring Syria that is badly inflaming sectarian tensions in Lebanon, even creating harsh musical rivalries. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Israel has opened a new front in its attempts to halt weapons smuggling to Hezbollah, striking one of the group's positions inside Lebanon for the first time since the sides fought a war eight years ago.

This week's air strike, meant to prevent the Islamic militant group from obtaining sophisticated missiles, is part of a risky policy that could easily backfire by triggering retaliation. But at a time when the Syrian opposition says Hezbollah has struck a major blow for President Bashar Assad's government in neighboring Syria by ambushing al Qaeda-linked fighters there, it shows the strategic importance for Israel of trying to break the Syria-Hezbollah axis.

For now, the odds of a direct conflagration between Israel and Hezbollah appear low. The group has sent hundreds of fighters to Syria and is preoccupied with saving Assad's embattled regime.

Sophisticated arms

Israel considers both Hezbollah and the al Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front to be grave threats. With a lack of good choices, Israel has avoided taking sides in the Syrian war, and in the short term, is content watching the two sides beat each other up. But in the long run, officials have expressed concerns about the battlefield expertise that Hezbollah has gained.

Officials also suspect that despite repeated Israeli air strikes on suspected arms shipments, Hezbollah has managed to get its hands on many sophisticated weapons, including Russian-made antiaircraft and antiship missiles, ensuring that any future conflict with Israel will be far more intense than previous rounds of fighting.

Shaky cease-fire

Israel and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shiite group committed to Israel's destruction, battled to a stalemate during a monthlong war in the summer of 2006. Both sides have avoided any direct confrontation since a U.N.-brokered cease-fire ended the fighting, but each has been gearing up for renewed clashes.

Hezbollah rained some 4,000 rockets and missiles on Israel in 2006, mostly short-range, unguided projectiles. Israel believes the group now possesses 100,000 rockets and missiles. These include weapons with longer ranges, guidance systems and larger warheads, are capable of striking anywhere in Israel. The weapons come from Syria and Iran.

"Iran is handing out torches to the pyromaniacs," Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said during a tour of the northern front this week. "I suggest that everyone keeps in mind that underneath this quiet, a storm is brewing."

Israel believes Hezbollah has used the fighting in Syria as cover to transfer weapons back to Lebanon. Israeli leaders have repeatedly vowed to prevent Hezbollah from obtaining "game changing" weapons that could alter the current balance of power, and over the past year Israel has carried out a series of covert air strikes in Syria that targeted shipments of weapons believed to be bound for Hezbollah. These included Russian-made antiaircraft and surface-to-sea missiles, as well as advanced Iranian guided missiles.